Both Sides Now
by jdmazz
Summary: James Diamond simply didn't do feelings. He just didn't. Which was why it was so ironic that he just had to fall for his best friend's not-so-girlfriend.


I know, I know, you all want me to post another chapter of Golden Slumbers instead, but I was suddenly inspired. There's a serious lack of Jamille out there and I felt like I needed to give it a shot, haha.

It's my first non-slash fic in a LONG time so bear with me, because I'm a little rusty on this department. Hope you guys like it!

* * *

"Quick, get in here!" Blindly trusting James, Camille sped into the door he was opening, both of them out of breath and giggling as they went. James felt a wave of warmth hit him as he realized that Camille didn't even question why he wanted to get in there, that she trusted his judgment without fail, which, now that he thought about it… He wasn't used to that. He wasn't used to being the one people listened to – if anything, Kendall and Logan shot down nearly all of his ideas. Kendall because he'd come up with a better plan and Logan because… Well. Logan was a genius and what else was there to explain about it other than that James _wasn't_ a genius?

So, Camille. In the dusky supply closet she was closer to him than he had prepared himself for and he could feel her chest against his, moving up, down and up again in slow movements. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and melt his lips against hers, the set of lips he remembered to be soft and plump and just the right fit, but she wasn't his to kiss. He couldn't.

Not that she was dating Logan anymore, but she wasn't _not_ dating Logan either. They were stuck in that gray area that neither of them seemed to want to get out of and the "not dating ex-girlfriends code" was higher in effect than ever, especially since the ice skating incident with Kendall. Why exactly Logan had gone insane, no one knew, and no one could explain it either. It was weird. James didn't get it. James didn't get a lot of things, but this one took the cake. After all, when James had been the one to kiss Camille, all it took was a duel to get Logan to forgive him. What was different about Kendall and Camille holding hands?

As much as it didn't make sense, James was glad that at least _he_ wasn't the one being chased with an axe by Logan, who had gone completely evil genius mode and had been scary as hell, thank you very much.

Except that whole scenario made him even more aware of the fact that he couldn't act on his feelings. Which was ironic, because James Diamond didn't _do_ feelings. For years he'd suppressed anything that had to deal with love, other than the love for his best friends, because he'd seen what love had done to his parents. They got married. They'd been in love. His mother had even told him they were the happiest couple in town when they just got together, and where had it left them?

Right.

His father left with a girl who was only a few years older than James had been at the time and his mother forgot about everything but work. True, she knew how to get a business running, but love? Love just brought all of them unnecessary pain and James had sworn to never let that happen to him. He was stronger than that. He didn't need anyone.

Well, except for his best friends, of course.

So yeah, it was really typical that when James finally allowed himself to feel something for a girl, other than the urges every teenage boy felt and he acted upon more than the others, it was Camille. The one he couldn't have. The one he couldn't even try to have and who was standing way too close for comfort.

"You look ridiculous," Camille whispered against him, tapping the tip of his nose that was covered in white flour. Somehow, both of them dressing like chefs seemed like the best way to steal the key to the apartment James had insisted on using. It was awesome there, okay? James clapped and _things_ just happened.

He wished things would happen with him and Camille, too.

Her curls bounced across her head, falling on her shoulders. The flour had somehow managed to get into her hair too, making it seem like she was prematurely aging, and he cracked a smile.

"You look ridiculous, too," James said and looked at her fondly, because she didn't look ridiculous at all. She looked painfully cute.

The flour in her hair and the dust in the closet got to her nose and she sneezed softly, hiccupping a little with it. James' heart clenched together. Apart from all the other things that made her absolutely perfect to him, she just _had _to have the cutest sneeze too.

Why did he never notice that before?

Neither of them could deny there was an attraction. There had been since the day they met, when they formed an instant bond over acting. James fully understood that in order to get your role right, costumes had to be involved. Getting into character was underrated in this world - they both agreed on that. But. Well. There'd been too many moments that didn't involve acting to ignore what was going on between them. Too many moments James had seen something in Camille's eyes that wasn't supposed to be there. Too many moments that he'd wanted to reach out and kiss her senseless. And then that one moment that he did and almost ruined everything that meant anything to him in his life.

Admittedly, he'd kissed a lot of girls in his life - just because he didn't believe in love anymore, didn't mean he didn't have hormones. He was a teenage boy, and a really handsome one at that, and he could get anyone he wanted, so… He took full advantage of that. Obviously. It didn't matter that Kendall fondly called him a manwhore – James was content doing what he was doing because making out was awesome. All his friends should make out, all the time, just not with the people _he_ wanted to neck.

The thing was… That one kiss with Camille had been better than any make out session he'd ever had and since then, he just wasn't that into it anymore with other girls. He'd tried. Kissed more girls than he had even before, and that said something. He was even man enough to admit that there'd been other guys occasionally, but that had been curiosity. Sometimes it happened.

Except for that one time with Logan, but Logan had been afraid he was a terrible kisser and who could teach him all the how-to's better than the king of kissing himself?

"Is he gone yet?" Camille giggled softly against him, her voice breaking the silence James had tried to maintain. He didn't trust himself around her because he knew what could happen and surely, so did Camille. She had to.

"Who? Logan?"

"Why would I be talking about Logan?" Camille raised an eyebrow, confusion clear even in the dark, and James wanted to say that he should ask _her_ that, because why were they even together anymore? She deserved so much better. She deserved the world.

He could be that.

Camille blinked. "What?"

Fuck. Had he said that out loud? He had, hadn't he? Shit, fuck, crap, _shit_. Maybe, if he turned around and ignored the issue, she'd let it go. Maybe if he just -

"I, um. Nothing!" James swirled around, grabbing her shoulders and switching places so he was standing against the door now. He put his ear against the hardwood and listened intently, trying his hardest to avoid Camille's gaze, her eyes piercing through him even if he couldn't see clearly.

She was quiet behind him and he thought he succeeded in it, so he tried to speak. Not that he trusted his voice, but Logan had taught him that the silent treatment didn't do anything, so.

"I think Bitters is gone, let's go tell the others that we have the keys to 3F."

"James."

"This party will be the best party of the year! Good for our careers too by the way, you know that, right? Street cred, reputation and all that good stuff," James persisted, his voice quavering and jesus, could he be any more obvious about all of this?

"_James_."

For the first time, James wished he was good at plotting like Kendall, or at least clever like Logan, so he could work his way out of here. Wait. _Logan_.

"We should check if Logan is outside!" James shrieked , relieved he found a way out, and tried to open the door, but it didn't budge, which. Weird. He'd been in this closet plenty of times -which was a whole different issue on itself- and not once hadn't he been able to get out, unless…

"Logan?" he half-yelled, pounding on the door.

"Yeah?" the answer came clear and unsurprised, as if Logan was prepared for this to happen. Then again, Logan was prepared for the world to end, so that wasn't anything new.

"Is Bitters gone?"

He heard Logan sigh on the other end of the door.

"Do you really think I'd be talking to a door if he wasn't?" His voice almost sounded impatient and James didn't get why, because he'd done nothing wrong, right? Hell, he was in a supply closet with his best friend's not-so-girlfriend and he hadn't tried to attack her yet. He couldn't behave any better if you asked him to.

"Okay so, can you get us out?"

"I could, but I won't."

"Dude, stop being a dick and let us out!"

"Not until you stop being an idiot!"

James awkwardly laughed and he heard Camille whisper "Oh, no" softly behind him. He turned his body towards her and threw up his hands in the air, frustrated beyond belief. He just wanted to get out of here, damn it.

There was only so much self-restraint a man could possess, after all, and he was slowly reaching his limit.

"Oh no, _what_?" he yelped. Why did Camille understand what was going on and why didn't he?

"He's… Ask _him_."

"Logan!" James turned back to his friend, who he couldn't see, and this was becoming old now. He was highly aware of Camille inching closer to him and how she smelled like lavender, her aroma surrounding him and nearly suffocating him and god damn it, Logan, this wasn't funny.

"I'm leaving until you two have got your stuff figured out. Call me when you do."

"When's that?" James groaned, frustrated. He really, really, _really_ didn't understand what was happening and he didn't like it one bit, thank you very much.

"Camille knows!" Logan emitted a sound that was dangerously close to a cackle and with that, it was silent on the other side of the closet. James might be dense sometimes, but he wasn't dumb – there'd been no footsteps walking away from the door and James was absolutely sure that Logan was sitting there on a chair against the door, effectively blocking their exit, and spying on their every word. Whatever. If Logan wanted them to talk, they'd talk. He'd get what he wanted then.

"Okay, _explain_." He crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly, his eyebrows still knitted together.

"I… He thinks… We talked," Camille began and for the first time since James had met her, she actually seemed nervous. Camille was the coolest girl he knew and the one thing he admired about her was that she always kept her cool, never faltering, not even with Logan. If she wanted something, she got it. If she didn't know what she wanted, she'd figure it out, but never, _ever_ did she seem unsure. Until now, at least.

Somewhere, deep down, James felt proud that apparently, he was different.

"You talked about what?" he asked, relaxing his arms a little bit.

"That the random kissing should stop. Because we didn't work anymore and he… He thinks there's someone else. Someone I'm friends with." Her voice grew a little stronger with every word she spoke and at the end of her sentence, she looked up at James fiercely, her confidence apparently restored.

James swallowed.

"And who would that be?"

"You're not that dense, James."

Well. Apparently, Logan knew. And… He approved? That kind of changed everything.

So that was the reason that James finally gave in to the tight ball that had been forming in his stomach for months, maybe even years now, and he lunged forward, grabbing her face with both hands and finally smashing his lips against hers without feeling anything but pure joy. _Finally._

Her lips were as soft as he remembered, seemed to mold against his in the most perfect of ways and he was pretty damn sure that this was all he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Ever since that first kiss, all he wanted to know was what it'd be like to actually enjoy it, make it last, and after all this time, he actually got to.

Camille wrapped her arms around James' neck, enthusiastically pulling him closer until her chest collided against his and one of his hands went down to her lower back, resting at the curve above her butt. He dragged her closer, as close as he could manage, as he pried her lips open with his and opened up his mouth a little wider, deepening the kiss.

She tasted like cherries, with the mix of something sweet yet heavy lingering in her mouth and James felt like he was about to pass out because it was good, too good, and he never wanted to stop. The hand still resting on her cheek slid a little lower, down to her jaw, and he rubbed the skin with his thumb softly, causing her to let out a soft moan against him.

James froze. So did Camille.

They breathed against each other, lips never parting, and that was when James decided it was time to stop being gentle because they'd wasted so much time already and he was going to make up for it. He was going to show Camille exactly how awesome he was at this.

He groaned softly, turning them around once again and pushing her against the door, trapping her between the wood and his chest. He slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting her better than before and he could feel her grin against his mouth as she lifted her leg and wrapped it around his hips, brushing her pelvis against his.

James nearly choked on air, his jaw falling slack, and Camille took advantage of it by cheekily biting his bottom lip, just hard enough to make it tingle. This time it was his turn to moan and his hands slid down her face, trying to prove that he was boss at this.

In reality, he loved her taking charge. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he loved _her_. Which basically meant that he was royally fucked.

He knew his mom would be so proud of him for it though, because no matter what happened, she had always told James that love was the most important thing and wow, okay, thinking of his mom when Camille was basically writhing against him was not the best idea he ever had.

James broke away from her mouth, albeit hesitantly, and moved his lips down her jaw to her neck, sliding his lips across the skin and leaving a sloppy, wet trail. She giggled against him and he could feel her shiver, making him smirk and finding her pulse point with his lips. Knowing fully well what kind of effect it would have, he bit down before sucking gently, lapping up as much skin as he could find.

When she moaned, loudly and uncontrollably this time, he deemed it was a mission accomplished. He couldn't wait to see what other sounds she'd make.

To test that theory, though a closet was maybe not the best place to try this for a first time, he slid a hand across her thighs and played with the hem of her dress, when suddenly, the leverage underneath his hand on the door disappeared.

Camille suddenly fell backwards, tagging James along with her until they both spiraled downwards to the ground, crashing there with a loud thud. When James looked up, a little blinded by the sudden bright light shining in his eyes, Logan was cowering above them with a ridiculously smug expression on his face.

"Um," James said. The only two things he could think of were "Thanks for locking me in a closet with your ex-girlfriend, dude!" and "Really? _Now?_ We were about to have sex in there, man."

Both of those options really didn't seem like the right thing to say to James.

"You're welcome," Logan said. That was all, but it was enough. They all smiled at each other, an unspoken conversation going on between the three of them as they stared. James just wanted to yell at Logan to leave so he could kiss his girlfriend (oh, god, he had a _girlfriend_ now), but he didn't have to.

Logan was the first to turn away, silently, walking down the hallway and disappearing into the elevators without saying another word.

James looked down at their legs, tangled together in a web of limbs, before shifting his gaze to Camille, who just smiled at him confidently.

"Kiss me again, Diamond," she demanded and reached out her arms to drag him in close.

He could definitely get used to this, James thought as he brought their lips together again.


End file.
